Ball gripping and throwing apparatus



Feb. 18, 1969 BALL GRIPPING AND THROWING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1, 1965Sheet of 2 INVENTOR ROBERT J. PARKER 84 BY 61 (LC/M ATTORNEY R. J.PARKER 3,428,036

Feb. 18, 1969 R. J. PARKER BALL GRIPPING AND THROWING ARPARATUS SheetFiled Sept. 1. 1965 INVENTOR United States Patent 3,428,036 BALLGRIPPING AND THROWING APPARATUS Robert J. Parker, 58 Mosher Ave., BattleCreek, Mich. 49017 Filed Sept. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 484,210 US. Cl. 124-5Int. Cl. F41b 3/04; F41f 7/00; G01n 3/08 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention relates broadly to athletic equipment, andmore specifically to a piece of athletic equipment to be used inassisting an individual in throwing a ball.

There is more baseball, soft ball, slow pitch ball, and other types ofball throwing actively being conducted at the present time and at allage levels. This increase of participation is on the increase for manybasic reasons. One basic reason for the increase is that we have acontinual growth of population. Another reason is that we have acontinual expansion in the recreational time available by individuals asa whole. Still another reason is that more of our citizens are living inurban or suburban areas and this type of activity permits a pleasurablemeans of meeting various exercising desires by the participants.

Because of this increase in ball throwing type activities, there is alsoa greater opportunity that many more individuals will be participatingin this activity on a very limited or sporadic basis. These individualsafter being dormant in the field of vigorous physical activities forconsiderable and varied lengths of time can cause permanent or temporaryinjuries or inconvenience to develop in their arms and back upon hardthrowing of balls, swinging of bats, et cetera. Many times ball throwingactivities are conducted when a limited amount of time is available bothfor practice and participation. This is true both for persons holdingdown a full-time job and participating, and for individuals attendingschool full-time and participating. It is difiicult even for some goodathletes to hit various types of balls such as pop-ups, grounders, flyballs, et cetera, a consistent or controlled distance, speed, direction,et cetera. Professional athletes have been able to acquire fairlyexpensive equipment which can simulate consistently and under controlledconditions line drives, fly balls, bouncers, et cetera, This equipmentis not available to the vast majority of ball playing participants evenin organized activities such as high school, college and communityrecreational programs. It is in recognition of these and other problemsand the fact that no wholly satisfactory system has been commerciallyavailable that the present invention was conceived.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention is to provide aball throwing assisting device which will permit even unskilled ballplayers to throw a ball in a controlled manner.

Another object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus havingthe ability to permit the user to be very consistent in the distance hethrows the ball.

A further object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus whichcan accurately control the direction in which the ball will be thrown.

A still further object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatuspermitting the user to throw various styles of balls and have acontrolled direction of curve.

A still further object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatuspermitting the user to throw various types of balls as he may desire,such as flies, line drives, grounders, or infield pop-ups.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a ballthrowing assisting apparatus for use in throwing pop-ups which a catchermay be faced with in a riotmal ball game situation.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a ballthrowing assisting apparatus which permits the user to throw a ballcontinually without having an adverse effect on his arm or back.

Still another object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatuswhich has adjusting means to help accomplish the direction and type ofthrowing being made and the pressure of grip the apparatus applies tothe ball.

Also, an object of the present invention includes the provision of aball throwing assisting apparatus capable of accomplishing the aboveobjectives with a minimum of material cost and fabricating expense andat the same time being composed of a simple and ruggeclly formedstructure which is very reliable in application.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, consists of a ball throwing assisting apparatus as hereinafterfully described and particularly pointed out in the claim, the annexeddrawings, and the following description setting forth in detail certainmeans for carrying out the invention, such disclosed means illustrating,however, but one of various ways in which the principles of theinvention may be used.

In the annexed drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a ball throwing assistingapparatus embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial front view of the present invention as disclosedin FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial side elevational view of the present inventionillustrating the ball throwing assisting apparatus showing the oppositeside of the apparatus as shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view showing the ball control assemblytaken along line IVIV of FIGURE 3 looking in the direction of arrows IV.

FIGURE 5 is a partial sectional side elevational view of the ballthrowing assisting apparatus taken along line V-V of FIGURE 2 viewed inthe direction of the arrows V.

FIGURE 6 is an elevational back view of an alternate embodiment of aball throwing assisting apparatus illustrating the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the ball throwing assistingapparatus disclosed in FIGURE 6.

Referring to FIGURE 1 there is disclosed a ball gripping and throwingapparatus generally referred to as 10 which has benefit as a ballthrowing assisting device. The ball gripping and throwing apparatus 10has a shaft assembly 11 which is made up generally of a handle member 12and a shaft member 14. The handle member 12 has two general portions.The lower portion is a hand grip 15 and the upper :portion is a rigidshaft member 16. The hand 15 can be made of various materials such asmetal, wood, et cetera, or some type of material such as rubber orleather which would give the user a firm gripping surface in a preferredembodiment. The rigid shaft member 16 has a support ring 17 positionednear its upper end. The support ring 17 could be a separate piece orpart of rigid shaft member 16; in the present illustration it is shownas a separate piece and brazed to the rigid shaft member 16. The supportring 17 supports a locking member 18. The

locking member 18 has a locking arm 19 which includes a securing finger21 and an actuating member 22. The locking arm 19 is pivotally supportedby flange members 24 or support ring 17. A pivot pin 25 passes throughand supports locking arm 19 to flange members 24. A spring member 26acts on locking arm 19, as viewed in FIGURE 5, holding the securingfinger 21 in contact with rigid shaft member 16 in its free condition,the purpose of which will be explained below in detail.

A clamping member 27 connects flange members 24, holding them in aproper spaced position so that locking arm 19 is free to move aboutpivot pin 25 when actuating member 22 is depressed and released. Rigidshaft member 16 has a receiving hole 28 which receives securing finger21 of locking arm 19. Shaft member 14 can slide up and down along aninside surface 29 of rigid shaft member 16. Adjusting holes 31 areprovided on shaft member 14 to receive securing finger 21. When thesecuring finger 21 is in position, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, the shaftmember 14 is locked in its adjusted position with respect to rigid shaftmember 16. The shaft member 14 depending upon its length, the intendeduse of the equipment, et cetera, may have as many adjusting holes 31 asmay be needed to give the necessary length adjustment. A positioningslot 32 runs the length of shaft member 14 and acts with a positioningpin 33 which is embedded in rigid shaft member 16, as viewed in FIGURES2 and 5, to hold the proper alignment of adjusting holes 31 with thesecuring finger 21. At the upper end of shaft member 14 is secured acylindrical helical spring 37. The cylindrical helical spring 37 can besecured to the shaft member 14 in various manners. For the presentillustration, a securing wire 38 is provided which extends across theshaft member 14, gripping a turn of the cylindrical helical spring 37. Aball control assembly 40 is mounted to the upper end of cylindricalhelical spring 37. The ball control assembly 40 has a head supportmember 41 which is mounted to the cylindrical helical spring 37 by asecuring wire 42 in a similar manner as the securing wire 38 mounts theshaft assembly 11 to the cylindrical helical spring 37. The ball controlassembly 40 has a flange assembly 44 which can be mounted to the headsupport member 41 in various manners well known in the art. For thepresent illustration, rivet members 43 are shown. Flange assembly 44 hasa flange hinge 45 at its upper end which connects flange assembly 44 toflange member 46. Flange member 46 is made up of rib member 47, guidearm 48, and gripping arm 49. A holding member 51 is connected to flangemember 46. This can be accomplished in various ways. However, for thepresent illustration, rivet members 50 are used. Holding member 51 hasgripping leaves 52 and 53. The gripping leaves 52 and 53 have back-upsupport means in the form of pressure arms 54 and 55, respectively.Pressure arms 54 and 55 are secured to rib member 47 by hinge members 56and 57, respectively. The pressure arms 54 and 55 have end assemblies 58and 59, respectively. End assemblies 58 and 59 are connected together'by an adjusting bolt 61. The adjusting bolt 61 is freely connected toend assembly 58 and threadably connected to end assembly 59. Theadjusting bolt 61 is provided with a turning tip 62. When turning tip 62is turned in one direction it will move end assemblies 58 and 59 towardseach other which causes pressure arms 54 and 55 to move away from eachother. When turning tip 62 is turned in the opposite direction endassemblies 58 and 59 Will move away from each other which causespressure arms 54 and 55 to move towards each other. When the pressurearms 54 and 55 move towards each other, they apply pressure on thegripping leaves 52 and 53 and as they move away from each other theyreduce the pressure which they apply on the gripping leaves 52 and 53,the purpose of which will be explained below.

Gripping leaf 53 is provided with a pressure gauge assembly 65. Pressurearm 55 acts on the gripping leaf 53 through pressure gauge assembly 65.The pressure gauge assembly 65 has a gauge fluid housing 66 which isacted upon and is in actual physical contact with pressure arm 55. Thegauge fluid housing 66 holds the main portion of the gauge fluid used inthe pressure gauge assembly 65. A gauge tube 67 is provided below thegauge fluid housing 66 and is marked off with graduation marks. Thegauge tube 67 is provided with a confined gas at its lower tip. As thepressure arm 55 is moved towards gripping leaf 53 it will applyadditional pressure on the gauge fluid housing 66 forcing more fluidinto the gauge tube 67 compressing the confined gas at the tip of gaugetube 67 and giving a relative reading along its graduated side. Thiswill provide a reading which will be beneficial to the user as will beexplained below in more detail.

Rib member 47 is provided with a contacting means 71. Contacting means71 receives an adjusting bolt 72. The adjusting bolt 72 is pivotallyconnected to flange assembly 44 by pivot nut assembly 73. The adjustingbolt 72 is in threaded contact with pivot nut assembly 73 and hasturning knob 74 connected at its opposite end from contacting means 71.When the turning knob 74 is turned in one direction, it will move flangemember 46 in a counterclockwise direction about flange hinge 45 asviewed in FIGURE 1. When the turning knob 74 is turned in the oppositedirection it will move flange member 46 in a clockwise direction aboutflange hinge 45 as viewed in FIGURE 1. A gauge flange 77 is mounted toflange assembly 44 and has a graduated scale 78 secured to it towardgripping arm 49. Gripping arm 49 has an indicator member 79 secured toits bottom side which extends adjacent to graduated scale 78 giving anindicated relative reading when turning knob 74 is turned, moving flangemember 46 about flange hinge 45. The purpose of this adjustment will beexplained below in more detail.

Gripping leaves 52 and 53 are used to grip a projectile, in the presentillustration a ball is shown in phantom and indicated as 80. Thegripping arm 49 also acts on the ball 80 gripping it between itself andguide arm 48. To utilize the present invention, a ball 80 is positionedwithin gripping leaves 52 and 53 and gripping arm 49 and guide arm 48and the user will grasp the hand grip 15 and swing the ball gripping andthrowing ap paratus 10 in a movement pattern similar in manner to thatused in the normal throwing of a ball. Depending upon the user and theadjustments, the ball 80 will take various paths in its flight; exampleswould be fly balls, line drives, grounders, pop-ups, et cetera. Eachuser will have to accustom himself to the adjustments to get the resultsthey may desire.

As the ball 80 is being released from the ball control assembly 40, itwill get part of its direction of flight from the guide arm 48. Thegripping arm 49 merely assists in holding the ball 80 in position Withinthe ball control assembly 40 before it is released. Depending upon thesnap the user puts in the ball gripping and throwing apparatus 10, theguide arm 48 will control the type of projectory. As the turning knob 74is turned to move the flange member 46 in more of a counterclockwisedirection along flange hinge 45, the projectory of the ball will becomehigher because the guide arm 48 will be raised. If the turning tip 62 isturned in one direction adjusting bolt 61 will cause the end assemblies58 and 59 to move towards each other and increase the pressure to beapplied against the ball 80 by the gripping leaves 52 and 53, thusrequiring more force to be exerted to get the ball 80 out of holdingmember 51. If the turning tip 62 is turned in the opposite direction thepressure on ball 80 will be reduced allowing it to come out of theholding member 51 with less force.

To throw the ball in a straight direction, the followthrough of the usershould be such that the arm will have the holding member 51 extendingforward in a direction indicated by arrow 82 of FIGURE 4. The ball 80will then be released with substantially no spinning motion about its upand down axis. If the thrower wishes to have the ball 80' curve to theright, the up direction as viewed in FIGURE 4, he should have holdingmember 51 cocked and the follow-through be in the direction of arrow 83,as shown in FIGURE 4. This will cause the ball 80 to be released byrolling off gripping leaf 53 giving the ball a clockwise spinningmotion, as viewed in FIGURE 4. If he wishes the ball to curve to theleft, the down direction as viewed in FIGURE 4, he should have holdingmember 51 cocked and the follow-through be in the direction of arrow 84,as shown in FIGURE 4. This will c ause the ball 80 to be released byrolling off gripping leaf 52 giving the ball a counterclockwise spinningmotion, as viewed in FIGURE 4.

Users, because of their various heights and swinging motions, may wantto change the length of the shaft assembly 11. This, of course, will beaccomplished by pushing actuating member 22 toward rigid shaft member 16which removes securing finger 21 from contact with adjusting holes 31.Then the shaft member 14 can be moved either in or out along insidesurface 29 of the rigid shaft member 16 until the desired length isfound. Then actuating member 22 can be released so that securing finger21 may again contact adjusting holes 31, securing the ball gripping andthrowing apparatus at this desired length. The cylindrical helicalspring 37 permits the ball control assembly 40 to have a certain amountof resilient freedom in any direction. It also adds a good deal of thesnap necessary to provide the type of throw a user may desire andpermitting him to throw for considerable lengths of time without tiringor injuring his arm or back.

The shaft assembly 11 also provides for completely releasing the shaftmember 14 from the rigid shaft member 16 so that an alternate shaftmember could be placed in the rigid shaft member 16, giving greatflexibility as to the size ball any one ball gripping and throwingapparatus 10 could be used to throw.

Referring generally to FIGURES 6 and 7, an alternate ball gripping andthowing apparatus 110 is illustrated. The ball gripping and throwingapparatus 110 has a unitary shaft assembly 111, at the upper end ofwhich is secured a leaf spring 137. This can be done in various mannerswell known in the art. For the presenf illustration rivet members 138are shown. A gripping portion 115 is provided at the bottom end of theshaft assembly 111. A ball control assembly 140 is secured to the upperend of leaf spring 137 This can be done in various manners well known inthe art. For the present illustration rivet members 142 are shown. Ballcontrol assembly 140 has a flange assembly 144 which is in actualsecured contact with leaf spring 137. A holding member 151 with grippingleaves 152 and 153 is secured to the flange assembly 144. This can bedone in various manners well known in the art. For the presentillustration rivet members 150 are used, only one is viewable in FIGURES6 and 7. A pair of pressure arms 154 and 155 are in contact withgripping leaves 152 and 153, respectively. Hinge members 156 and 157connect pressure arms 154 and 155, respectively, to flange assembly 144.Pressure arms 154 and 155 are provided with end assemblies 158 and 159,respectively. End assemblies 158 and 159 are provided with pressurecontrol rods 161 and 162, respectively. The ends of pressure controlrods 161 and 162 extend away from their end assemblies 158 and 159,respectively, and are connected together by tension spring 163. Tensionspring 163 tends to move the ends of pressure control rods 161 and 162towards each other which causes a predetermined pressure to be appliedon the projectile held by the holding member 151. Thus, pressure arms154 and 155 are continually urged into contact with gripping leaves 152and 153, respectively. A flange member 146 is connected to flangeassembly 144 by flange hinge 145. A contacting means 171 is mounted onflange assembly 144 and receives one end of an adjusting bolt 172 whichhas a turning knob 174. The adjusting bolt 172 passes through and is inthreadable engagement with pivot nut assembly 173. The flange member 146has a rib member 147 and a guide arm 148. If the turning knob 174 isturned in one direction, it will move flange member 146 in a clockwisedirection about flange hinge 145; and if it is turned in the oppositedirection, it will move flange member 146 in a counterclockwisedirection about flange hinge 145. This adjustment by positioning guidearm 148 helps control the course a ball or projectile will take as itleaves holding member 151 in the same manner that guide arm 48 helps todetermine the path that ball will take as it leaves holding member 51.

While but two forms of the invention have been shown and described,other forms within the spirit and scope of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the embodiments shownin the drawings are to be considered as merely being set forth forillustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention described and shown.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed,instead of those explained, change being made as regards the apparatusesherein disclosed, provided the means stated by the following claim orthe equivalents of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A ball gripping and throwing apparatus comprising, in combination:

(a) a unitary shaft assembly having a gripping handle at its lower end,

(b) a leaf spring secured to said unitary shaft assemblys upper end,

(c) a flange assembly secured to one end of said leaf spring, 1

(d) a flange hinge connecting a flange member to said flange assembly,

(e) a connecting means secured on said flange assembly above said flangehinge,

(if) said flange member having a rib member connected to said flangehinge at one end,

(g) said flange member having a guide arm connected to the end of saidrib member away from said flange hinge,

(h) a pivot nut assembly connected to said flange member between itsends,

(i) an adjusting bolt threadably connected with said pivot nut assemblyand rotatably connected with said contacting means,

(j) a ball holding member secured to said flange assem- (k) said ballholding member having ball gripping leaves, and

(1) pressure arm connected to said flange assembly applying pressure onsaid gripping leaves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 663,090 12/ 1900 Pike et al.124-5 1,253,700 1/1918 McLaughlin 273-812 1,535,029 4/1925 Murch 124*53,058,341 10/1962 Heintzmann 7314l FOREIGN PATENTS 307,797 2/ 1920Germany.

RICHARD c. PINKHAM, Priniary Examiner.

W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

